Device for handling loose materials



y.lune 24, 1930. F. w.. vonoz 1,765,511

DEVICE FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIALS Filed Aug. e. 1927 l 4Shee1s-sneet 1 June 24, 1930. F. wgvoDQz 1,765,511

DEVICE FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIALS Filed Aug. e. 1927 4 sheets-sheet 2 June 24, 1930.- l F. w. vQDo-z 11,765,511

DEVICE FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIALS Filed Aug. 6, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 June 24, 1930. F. w. voDoz 1,765,511

DEVICE FOR HANDLING LOOSE MATERIALS` Filed Aug. 6, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented `lune 24, 13930 UNITED sri-iras, PATENT4 oF-Ficsf FREDERICK W. yVODOZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASYSIGNOR TOV GOODMAN MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS l DEVICEy FOR HANDLING- LOOSE MATERIALS Application led August 6, 1927.

Thisr'invention relates to improvements in devicesifor handling loose material, and has asits-object to provide a machine which will cheaply and eliiciently remove draw slate from'. a mine roof.

Many bad mine roofs are caused chiefly from the fact that the roof directly above the:4 coal seam is composedI of a draw slate. This-r draw slate varies in thickness from a few' inches to severalv feet and disintegrates and falls from the main mine roof on being exposed to the air. This usually occurs right after the Coal has been shot down before it has been loadedv and thus makes it necessary to separate this draw slate from they coal by hand atthe face while the coal is being loaded7 in order to get a clean product, This is an expensive operation both to the miner and operator, and renders'the use of loading machines impossible since no loading machine can sort the dirt from the coal. At times this draw slate clings to the main roof after the coal has been loaded but later falls without warning. It may be seen that great damage may be caused by the falling of this draw slate and that it is liable to injure the workmen as well asy cause a great deal of expense and loss of time.

The device constituting'my-invention will economically remove and load this slate by machine before the coal has been mined and thus eliminate this dangerous and costly con- -ditionand make Vit possible to safely load the clean coal either by machine or hand.

My'invention may be best understood by referring to the following drawings where- 1n:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device embodying my invention inoperative position with portions broken away to more clearly show the details of construction;

Figure 2 i-s a top plan View of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3v is an enlarged top plan view of the device shown in Figure 1 with portions broken away: to more clearly show the'details f of construction; V

Figure 4 is aside elevation of the device shown in F igurey 1 in a position ready to travel about the mine;r

Serial No. 211,191.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure l;

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken on line 6 6 of Figure 1, and

Figure 7 is an enlarged view showing the detail-s of the flexible material gathering devices.

Referring now to the drawings, and` more particularly to Figures l and 2, it may bek seen .that I have provided a plurality of flexible material handling devices' 10, 10, insertible in a kerf 11 in the usual manner, after it has been cut by a mining machine just beneath the slate top. After the kerf has been cut; the slate top is shot down byy powder where it rests on the flexible material handling devices 10.l A winding drum 12 is provided to remove Jthese flexible material handling means, one at a time', with the slate thereon; v

Each of the flexible material handling devices 10 comprises a portion 13 of any sui"- able heavy flexible material such as the material used in heavy canvas or composition belting. The inner end of the portion 13 is adapted to be fastened to the drinn 12 by any suitable means while theother end has an upturned portion 14 to catch the loose material and draw it outwith the portion 13, and also to aid in inserting this material gathering means into the kerf; The means herein used for fastening the inner end `of the portion 13 to the druni'12 consists of a lmetal portion 13EL on the end of the portion 13. This end portionfis turned over to iit in a slot 13b in the drum 12'to hold the device 10 so it may be wound'in bythe drum 12.

It may be noted thatsinCe the material gatheringdevices 10, 10, overlap when inserted inthe kerf, that the upturned portion 14 does'not extend the full width of its respective portion 13 but only extends to the overlapping portion lof the adjacent material gathering device. These material gatherin'gfdevices are inserted in the kerf with the aid of a long pole or any other suitable means oflike nature.

Referring now more particularly to the gathering and loading machine itself, it may be seen that I' have provide-d a frame or body portion l5 slidcable on its bottom on the mine bottom or capable of travelling by itself along the mine rails. Studs .i6 project outwardly from each side of the forward portion of the body portion l5 and suitable track wheels 17 may be placed thereon when it is desired to travel about the mine on the mine rails. An axle 18 is ournaled in the rearward portion of said body portion and has track wheels 19,v 19 which may be keyed thereto when it is desired to travel about the mine yon the rails. The wheels 19 serve as driving rails for the device. Y

Said frame portion l5 has mounted thereon the drum l2 for winding in the material handling means l0, an auxiliary conveyor 2O for handling thevmaterial discharged from the material handling devices l0, l0, a rope drum 21 for moving the frame l along.

the mine ioor on its bottom7 and a suitable driving motor 22 for providing motive power to drive the frame along the mine or along the mine rails and to actuate the winding drum 2l and the conveyor 20.

The material handling devices l0, l0, are supported on a plate 2d projecting forwardly from the winding drum l2 to the mine wall where its forward end engages said mine wall during the loading operation (see ligure l). The rearward portion of the plate 24- has lugs 25 projecting outwardly from each end thereof which are journaled in the upper portion of supports 26. The lugs 25 are hollow and serve as bearings for a shaft 27 which has the winding drum l2 keyed thereon. t may here be seen that the supports 26 serve to support the winding drum l2 and supporting plate y11i and are journaled in a support 29 at 2 a. he support 29 projects upwardly from the frame l5 and is integral therewith. A portion of the support 2G projects downwardly from the point 29a where said support is j ournaled in the support 29 and has a forked end portion 30 to receive a threaded sleeve 3l having a trunnion 32 projecting from each side thereof which lit-in slots 33 in the forked end portion 30. il threaded shaft 3l is threaded Vthrough lugs 35 projecting outwardly from the portion 29 and is also threaded through the threaded sleeve 31.

A hand wheel 36 is provided to rotate said shaft and move the threaded sleeve 3l longitudinally on said shaft and thus move the supports 26 about their pivotal point to raise or lower the drum l2 and supporting plate 2d to accommodate said drum and supporting plate to thevarious heights of kerfs which may be encountered and to lower said mechanism so as to take up as little head room as possible while traveling about the mine.

A pair of adjustable indicated vgenerally at 38 support theforthereon.

supporting means I A handwheel 1o Vprovided. to rotate the screw 39 and adjust the supporting plate 2d.

The drive connection from the motor 22 -to the winding drum l2 coinorises a bevel motor pinion el which drives bevel gear l5 keyed to a vertical A worm Il keyed to the shaft l' and driven therefrom meshes wi th a worin gear i3 to rotate a shaft 50. A sprech t 5l is freely mounted on said shaft and selectively connectible therewith by a suitable jaw-clutch generally indicated at 'a transverse ft journaled in the supports 23 is driven by the sprocket 5l through a sprocket and drive chains 55. Another sprocket 56 is keyed to the outer end of the shaft drives a sprocket 57 on the shaft 27 through a drive chain 58 to drive said shaft and the windi ing drum l2 which is keyed thereto.

The `conveyor 2O is pivotally mounted for rocking movement on an auxiliary frame 60 at 6l. rlhe frame GG is in turn mounted for pivotal movement ,around rtical aXis on the fr me l5 and is supported for said pivotal movement on studs and integral with theframev The rocking movement of the conveyor 20 is controlled by a pair of acjusting screws on each side near the forward end thereof.l Said adjusting screws are threaded in supports 67 projecting from the frame and have threadedvsleevcs 63 thereon with g ions proj ect-- ing therefrom'and received in slo ed meinbers 69 projecting to each side o sf tne con'- veyor 2O and parallel thereto.V Eland wheels 70 are provided 'lo vrotate adjusting screws and `vary the height of disc1l arge of thel conveyor 20. Y

The conveyor 2O isa contuuous belt conveyor of an ordinal'v7 design with flights 7l Said conveyor is driven by the motor 22 in all positions of vertical or horizontal adjustment thereof through a suitable drive means comprising a pinion 72 keyed to the lower portion of the vertical shaft and driven therefrom. A spur gear 73 is driven by said ^`union and in turn drives aV vertical shalt 7d. This shaft is journaled in the bottom'portion ofthe frame l5 and in the central portion-ofV the studs 6d and 65 on which the frame 60 and conveyor 20 rotates. A bevel pinion 7 5 is said keyed to the shaft Ill and drives a. bevel isoY The bevel gear 79 is freely mounted on a shaft 8O and is connectible therewith through a jaw clutch generally indicated at 81. A sprocket 82 is keyed to the opposite end of said shaft and drives a sprocket 83 keyed to the shaft 84: through a drive chain 85 to drive the conveyor 20.

The apparatus above described is moved on its bottom along the mine bottom by means of the rope drum 21 which is freelyl mounted on the shaft 50 and selectively driven therefrom by a friction cone clutch generally indicated at 86. Suitable rollers and pulleys are provided to lead the rope over the forward or rearward ends or to either side of the machine.

A squared shank 87 is provided on one end of the shaft 50 to provide a means for driving said apparatus along the mine rails on the removable track wheels 17 and 19. A sprocket 88 is attachable to said squared shank to drive a sprocket 89 fixed to a rear wheel 19 by a drive chain 90 and thus drive the wheels 19 and move my device along the mine rails from working place to working place.

From the foregoing description it may be seen that I have provided a machine which is a complete unit for removing and loading slate from the mine roof, and that said unit is self-propelled either on rails or on the mine bottom.

The loading operation is simple and eilii cient; for as has been explained it may be :f seen that the flexible material handling devices may be placed in the kerf 11 for the whole length of the cut and that after the roof has been shot down these flexible material handling means 10 may be removed one at a time by the device described herein.

The first material handling device 10 in the kerf 11 is fastened to the drum 12 and. slowly wound on said drum taking the slate with it from the kerf and discharging said slate on the conveyor which in turn discharges said slate in the gob or in a suitable mine car. This operation is repeated until all of the material handling devices 10 are pulled from the kerf. The machine is moved "f along the face of the coal from one material handling device to another by means of a draft rope 86 Wound on the rope drum 21. Thus it may be seen that with one cutting and shooting operation the apparatus herein described can remove and load the slate from the entire working face and that while one working face is being loaded another working face may be made ready to be loaded to keep the loading operation continuous.

While I have shown and described one form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that the construction and arrangement ofthe various parts may be altered or changed without Adeparting from the spirit orfseope thereof.

able to engage a mine wall, and a-iiexible material handling devicer insertible in a kerf in a mine Wall, supported Vonsaid support- Ving vplate andadaptable to be wound-in byV said drum. overthe topportion thereof'- for removing said material handling device from said kerf loaded with loose-material. 2. In a device of the'class described, a

body portion slideable on a mine bottom, a- Awinding drum adjustably supported near the forward end thereof, a supporting plate projecting forwardly from said drum adaptable to engage a mine wall, and a flexible material handling device insertible in akerfin a mine wall, supported on said supporting plate and adaptable to be wound in vby said drum over the top portion thereof for removing said material handling' device from said kerf loaded with loose material;

said flexible material handling device having an upturned rigid end portion on the end adjacent the linner en-d of `said kerf for engaging the loose material and removing said loose material with the flexible material handling device as said device is removed from the kerf.

3. In a device of the class described, a body portion slideable on a mine bottom, a motor, flexible draft means driven by said motor for moving said device along the mine on its bottom, flexible material handling device insertible in a kerf in a mine wall, a Winding drum to Wind in said flexible material handling means supported on said supporting frame by a pivotally mounted supporting bracket for vertical adjustment thereof, supporting means for said flexible material handling device projecting forwardly from said drum for engaging a mine Wall, a conveyor at-the discharge end of said flexible material handling device, and a means for driving said flexible material handling winding drum from the aforementioned motor in all possible posi! tions of adjustment thereof.

4. In a device of the class described, a body portion slideable on a mine bottom, a motor, -a winding drum for Winding in a flexible draft device for moving the body portion along the mine bottom and driven from said motor, a flexible material handling device insertible in a kerf in a mine Wall having a hooked end portion for re.-

moving loose material With said flexible ma-V terial handling device as said material handling device is removed from said kerf, a means to remove said flexible material handling device from said kerf comprising a Winding drum for Winding in said iexible material handling device over the top of said drum, an adjustable support for said drum comprising a bracket pivotally mounted to said supporting frame atea point be- 10W said drum having an adjusting means connectible therewith at a point below said pivotal point, and means Jfor driving said supporting device Winding drum from said motor in all positions of adjustment thereof comprising a shaft rotatable on the pivotal axis of said bracket connectible with said motor and said Winding drum by a suitable driving means.

5. In a device of the class described, a main frame, a iieXible material handling device insertible in a kerf in a minev Wall, a Winding drum supported on said main frame and vertically adjustable with respect thereto, a supporting plate extending or- Wardly from said lWinding drum and adapta ble to engage a mine Wall at various elevations vwith respect thereto, and means for Winding said flexible material handling device on said Winding drum and thus removing said flexible material handling device loaded with loose material from said kerf.

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 8th day of August, A. D. 1927.

' FREDERICK W. VODOZ. 

